People live today in a social networking world full of information. Their daily lives and livelihood are closely connected with the Internet. They read online documents, watch streaming movies, and listen to online music. Online they spend time to socialize with friends, share photos and information, entertain and be entertained, acquire knowledge, and find solutions. Forums and news group serve as vital channels through which people can ask and answer questions, and share information.
In addition, instant messaging (IM) provides a convenient, interactive mechanism by which people can interact, communicate, and collaborate with one another. If a person wants to ask a question while reading a document or playing media, he can open an IM session and ask one or more of his buddies from his standard “buddy list”. However, a buddy is often not the most knowledgeable person or expert to answer the question. Thus, if the person cannot get a satisfying answer through IM, he has to try other channels, such as visiting the document's web site in search of an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). But if no FAQ is found, or if his particular question is not addressed, he has to go further and post his question on a forum or news group. Answers through such avenues, however, do not come instantly, even for a simple question. Industry has devised technology to integrate document collaboration with instant messaging conversation and thereby improved the usability for some degree, but such technology is still limited to buddies who may not be the appropriate persons to answer the questions.